BI Commissioner Ricardo David Jr said the programme will enhance the country’s border security and boost the agency’s capability to thwart the entry of foreign terrorists and other illegal aliens.
The new scheme involves the use of an ink-less device and digital camera in capturing the fingerprints and photographs of the foreign visitors.
David said that the project will accelerate the work process at the ports of entry, and ensure the integrity of the immigration system while safeguarding the privacy of the travellers.
“It will also help us prevent foreigners from using fraudulent documents to enter the country and enable us to identify departing aliens who have overstayed,” he added.
According to him, the agency benefit from the biometric scheme in easily detecting any attempt of persons who are presently included in the Bi watchlist, hold departure list, lookout bulletin, and those who are blacklisted to enter or leave the country.
Travellers can be assured of their biometric information to be kept in the strictest confidentiality and used only for law enforcement and official purposes, David added.
“The scheme is necessary to achieve the BI’s goal to modernize its facilities and provide its immigration officers with an effective tool to identify arriving and departing travelers and detect spurious travel documents,” he said.
Congress has appropriated PHP 94 million (US$ 2.3 million) this year for the project which is expected to be completed in 2018.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Thanya Kunakornpaiboonsiri
Quelle/Source: futureGov, 11.03.2013
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